As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Notebook computers include a host central processing unit (CPU) to perform processing tasks for the system including executing various applications such as computer games. A notebook computer may also include internal graphics processing unit (GPUs) in the form of a lower performance internal integrated GPU (iGPU), and a higher performance internal discrete GPU (dGPU). The internal iGPU is integrated within the host central processing unit (CPU) inside the notebook computer chassis enclosure, and the internal discrete GPU is provided inside the enclosure of a notebook computer chassis and coupled to the host CPU using an internal data bus. The host CPU and dGPU typically share the same notebook heat sink and fan cooling resources that are located within the same notebook computer chassis. In an effort to shrink form factors, such a shared cooling configuration has allowed original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to ship notebook computer systems that have a combined shared cooling resource capacity that is lower than the sum of the cooling requirements of the individual processor parts that share the same cooling resources. This allows for provision of a smaller cooler system with lower thermal density.
Some notebook computer CPUs are configured to operate at multiple configurable power levels by controlling processor clock speed. These power levels include a power level 1 (OEM PL1) that specifies maximum processor power power consumption that the CPU can run under a sustained processing load, and a power level 2 (OEM PL2) that specifies a higher maximum processor power consumption that a CPU can run for a short period of time to handle higher processing loads. Selection of CPU power levels are often made based on a thermal design power (TDP) design value that is specified for the CPU that represents the maximum amount of heat generated by the CPU that the cooling system of a notebook computer is required to dissipate during operation. During computer game play operation, a notebook CPU will typically draw at least a minimum amount of power set by the PL1 value specified for the notebook CPU, regardless of the processing complexity of the current computer game, i.e., remaining at this minimum power consumption level regardless of game complexity (from simple Indie game titles to AAA game titles).